THE APPEARANCE OF THE CORONA. 95 



with field-glasses and spectacles, and with my naked eye, but 

 could not see the least trace. Indeed the sky looked very 

 uniform in colour and darkness for some distance off. It was 

 blue, a very strong blue, yet not exactly the colour it has in ordi- 

 nary daylight. I thought there was a purplish tinge, especially 

 just after the end of totality, at which time for some seconds it 

 seemed to me there was a very strong red tinge in the sky at 

 no great distance from the sun ; it might perhaps be the reddish 

 circle that appears round the sun on dusty air, and which has 

 often been visible all day since we came to India, though more 

 often in the middle of the day there has been merely a glare 

 without any red tinge. The red after totality seemed much 

 too strong to be due entirely to this, and struck me as probably 

 at least partly due to the light of the chromosphere. During 

 totality I could not see the slightest effect of dust nor anything 



MR. BACKHOUSE'S SKETCH. 



to hide the faintest parts of the corona beyond the general light 

 of a clear sky. 



As regards the inner part of the corona, it formed a very 

 brilliant circle, far more brilliant than the rays. It rapidly 

 faded away outwards, but I did not notice how far it extended. 



The chromosphere was very conspicuous with field-glasses, 

 especially just before the end of totality, when it was chiefly at 

 the right side of the moon. It was perhaps equally conspicuous 

 at the beginning of totality ; but I paid no particular attention 

 to it at any time. It was a brilliant crimson forming a rather 

 irregular rim round the moon, perhaps not quite continuous, 

 though nearly so. My impression is that it was visible all 

 through totality, but I am not sure. I did not see any .very 

 lofty prominences. 



The moment the sun began to reappear, the rays of the 

 corona disappeared ; but I think its inner part did not do so at 

 once. I also looked for Venus with the naked eye a very few 

 seconds after the sim appeared, and failed to see it. 



